Monday, February 3, 2014

Today's Teamster News 02.03.14

Rethinking Economics: From the UK, a Global Student Movement Takes Shape truthout ...When the financial crisis hit in 2007, economics students at respected institutions around the world found that theories handed down in classrooms failed to explain the reality outside, and an international movement began to demand a change in the way economics is taught...Maryland Joins Continent-Wide Protests Against the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Unjust Trade The Real News ...More than 50 cities across the U.S., Mexico and Canada participated...Globalists Panic; New Details on 'One World' Trade Deal American Free Press ...In a clear sign that populist nationalism is a growing force in the western world, United Kingdom (UK) Chancellor George Osborne gave an important address in mid-January in which he called for major European Union (EU) reforms to safeguard member nations’ sovereignty and revive their lackluster economies...Fast track stopped, but is it dead? Trade Reform ...Since 1992, imported goods have been growing three times faster than exports...Tariff disagreement with U.S. stands in way of TPP The Japan Times ...Amari admitted Friday the two allies remain at odds over Japan’s tariffs on five “sacred” farm product categories, including rice. The U.S. is pushing for full removal...Hated on the Left, the TPP Draws Conservative Foes In These Times ...the American Jobs Alliance and the United States Business and Industry Council—pro-business groups wary of trade’s impact on America’s national interests—joined with Tea Party Nation and the socially conservative Eagle Forum to rail against the TPP...Coming to a Post Office Near You: Loans You Can Trust? (opinion) The Huffington Post ...In the same remarkable report this week, the OIG explored the possibility of the USPS offering basic banking services -- bill paying, check cashing, small loans -- to its customers. With post offices and postal workers already on the ground, USPS could partner with banks to make a critical difference for millions of Americans who don't have basic banking services because there are almost no banks or bank branches in their neighborhoods....After crash, call for closer oversight of truckers Associated Press ...A deadly crash in Illinois involving a truck driver accused of staying at the wheel for more than 35 hours without a long enough break prompted a call Thursday for tougher oversight of drivers and trucking companies...Old idea for new rail safety problem: slow down trains carrying crude McClatchy ...The Federal Railroad Administration proposed in October 1970 that trains carrying flammable cargo in tank cars slow to 25 mph through incorporated communities. The proposal was never adopted as a rule...The "Skills Gap" Is a Convenient Myth truthout ...“If there’s a skills shortage, there has to be rises in wages [for skilled workers]. It’s basic economics.” Yet wages in manufacturing—even for skilled workers—are stagnant at best...The Rise of 'Insourcing' Gives Internet Companies a New Way to Exploit Workers The Next New Deal ...These new “insourced” workers are individuals who contract with large Internet-based companies like Uber and Taskrabbit to perform services here in the United States, either at a rate set by the larger company or in a free-for-all bidding war. As contractors, these workers receive very little protection in terms of minimum wage laws or unions, let alone benefits or insurance for the work they do. And their ranks are growing fast...How Putin's cronies seized control of Russia's Facebook The Verge ... In 2011, the oligarch fired two senior managers for publishing anti-Putin photos in an online newspaper that he owns...
Corruption across EU 'breathtaking' - EU Commission BBC News ... in some countries public procurement procedures were vulnerable to fraud, while in others party financing was the main problem, or municipal bodies were badly affected. And in some countries patients have to pay bribes in order to get adequate medical care...Right to Work bad for state Springfield News-Leader ...It is not hard to figure out, however, who would benefit from these efforts. The answer is Republican politicians, who believe that unions provide too much support to Democrats, and their own bankrolling supporters — business interests...